15 Mar 2012

Flame Fusion,what it is??

Invicta has recently trademarked the process name Flame-Fusion as it applies to the creation of their new synthetic crystals.

What is it?

Flame-Fusion explained at the most basic level, is a synthetic crystal that combines mineral and sapphire. But above a standard Sapphire coated mineral, it cannot de-laminate, and it is far more impact resistant.



Here is the breakdown of crystals, and their weak/strong points:

Acrylic Crystals are wonderfully impact resistant, but extremely easy to scratch. Luckily an acrylic crystal can be buffed and polished to remove many scratches, however there are a limited number of times that an acrylic crystal can be polished.

Mineral Crystals (fancy name for "glass") are very impact resistant, but can be scratched. The material ranks about a 5-6 on the Moh's Scale of Hardness.

Sapphire crystals have come to be known generally as the best crystals for

producing watches. That is due to their extraordinary scratch resistance. Ranking a 9 on the Moh's Scale of Hardness, the material (base of corundum) is one of the toughest there is. The only NATURAL substance ranking higher is a diamond. Problem is that they are brittle. Depending on the center thickness, Sapphire can easily be shattered.

Sapphire coated mineral crystals seem to be a nice balance of both impact resistance (mineral) and scratch resistance (Sapphire coatings)... so why is it not "the best"? Because the process used to adhere the materials can over time come apart on lower grade offerings, a process called "de-lamination" where the top layer of coatings can strip and peel off of the material they are bonded to. Typically, we see better companies like Invicta using higher grade coatings, and there are absolutely NO REPORTS of any de-lamination on any Invicta watch.

Flame-Fusion differs from the standard Sapphire coated mineral because the process does not involve layering or coating anything. The mineral (glass) and Sapphire are FUSED as one single material during the process which involves high heat and high pressure along with a combination of Aluminum Oxide into the composition that not only fuses the 2 materials together as one, but also further tempers the mineral (glass) making it even more impact resistant than it was previous to the procedure.

So now you have a material that is more impact resistant than mineral, and has equal scratch resistant to Sapphire. You now have a material that excels above what both mineral and Sapphire do on their own.

More impact resistant than mineral, also far more scratch resistant. This makes it a superior choice to Mineral.

Far more impact resistant than Sapphire, and equal scratch resistant. This makes it a superior choice to Sapphire.

Cannot de-laminate like lower quality Sapphire coated mineral crystals since it is infused to be ONE material. This makes it a superior choice to Sapphire coated crystals.

Is it the superior choice for you? Only you can make that determination. But now you have the facts to make up your own mind. Like invicta will be using this new process on most, if not all, of their future production.

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